미군 유해 55구 오산기지 도착…백악관 “변화 모멘텀 환영”<br /><br /> One of the agreements reached during the Singapore summit... was repatriating the remains of American soldiers who never made it back from the Korean War.<br />After some delays and uncertainties, it finally happened.<br />Lee Ji-won starts us off with the first such instance in over a decade, which marks a significant step forward in building trust. <br />The remains of American soliders killed on the northern side of the Korean Peninsula during the Korean war have been returned, after more than 60 years.<br /> A U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft took off from Osan Air Base in South Korea early Friday morning bound for Wonsan, North Korea, and returned at about 11 a.m. with the remains on board.<br /> The 55 caskets draped in UN flags... were carried out of the plane and loaded onto vans by honor guards from UN Command.<br />Though not a formal ceremony, some 1-thousand servicemembers, U.S. officials and their families were at the site on Friday, to honor and show respect to the fallen heroes.<br /><br /> United States Forces Korea Commander General Vincent Brooks said that it was a successful mission following extensive coordination and that they will now prepare to honor the fallen before they're sent on their journey home.<br /><br /> In the next five days or so, a team of American forensic specialists will do an in-depth examination of the remains,... looking for any identification like dog tags or uniforms.<br /> An official repatriation ceremony will be held at the airbase on August 1st, just before the remains are flown to Hawaii for DNA identification, which will take months.<br /> With this, the number of soldiers whose remains have been recovered from the North since the 1990s... will be closer to 700,... up from the 635 already confirmed.<br /><br />White House released a statement saying that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fulfilled part of the commitment he made to President Donald Trump and that the U.S. is encouraged by Pyongyang's actions and the momentum for positive change. <br /> Washington also noted that the event represents a significant first step toward resuming both the repatriation of remains from North Korea and field operations to find the other 5-thousand still there.<br /><br /> President Trump also thanked the North Korean leader on Twitter,... adding that after so many years, this will be a great moment for so many families.<br /> South Korea's Foreign Ministry also warmly welcomed the repatriation, and evaluated it as a meaningful step in building trust between North Korea and the U.S., and hoped that this would lead to work towards a settled peace on the Korean Peninsula..<br /><br /> The repatriation of remains is one of the points stipulated in the Joint Statement signed by Kim Jong-un and Trump in Singapore last month. <br /> That North Korea is following through on that promise has given hope to many that Pyongyang and Washington will progress also on denuclearization and a security guarantee.<br />Lee Ji-won, Arirang News. <br />
